Jesus is My Legacy

“When she poured this perfume on my body she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” Matthew 26:12-13

There is a lot of talk about leaving a legacy these days. The legacy we leave behind are the memories people will carry with them, and the change we helped to bring about in their lives. As I contemplated this, I wondered how I would be remembered. Would there be fond memories? Would I be missed because of the love I poured into lives? Did I make a difference? Would they know I loved Jesus? Could they see I loved Him enough to let Him change MY life? These and many other questions popped in my head and then I thought, “If people don’t know this about me now, I better make that clear while I still have time.”

Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, lived in the moment when Jesus came to town. She dropped everything to sit with Him. Her love and devotion were evident to everyone who witnessed her actions. It was clear He was important to her. She anointed His feet with expensive perfume. Judas said it amounted to a year’s wages! I love the way God’s Word paints this beautiful picture of a woman who gives her all to the One who she loved so desperately. After pouring the perfume on His feet she wiped them with her hair. Mary left her mark in the world at this moment. Her humble attempt to show her Savior how much He meant to her has been talked about for thousands of years. What a legacy! Thousands of years!

I wonder what I could do to leave such a powerful, long lasting legacy? Jesus isn’t here in human form, so I can’t pour expensive perfume on Him. I can’t literally sit at His feet and take in every word He says. People won’t witness me physically running to Him when a loved one dies as Mary did when her brother died. Butthey can see if I live out the words I speak about my faith in Him. They can know I am devoted to Him by the consistency of my time alone with Him. They can feel the love and compassion I show toward them in their times of pain and sorrow. Will my legacy die with me or go on in the hearts and words of others?

Your legacy is worth taking the time to make sure people know you love them, Jesus, and others with a love that you can’t conjure up on your own. Give the love that comes from Christ in you. To love through Him is a real, forgiving, true love that cannot be found elsewhere.

I desperately want people to know the love of Christ and it is this LOVE that will draw them closer to Him. Through this kind of love they can experience true acceptance and be comforted in my presence because Jesus is present in me.

I suppose I could write great books, work high paying jobs, give them expensive things, and win prestigious awards. Many legacies have been left in this way, but if the true love of Jesus is not dispersed as I live life what have I really given them? I’ve just left a lot of things that don’t fill an empty heart with hope, joy, peace, love and worth. These can only come from our Savior.

I hope and pray I am leaving a legacy that will be remembered, a legacy that will be followed, and a love that can never be replaced by the world.

Oh Father,

Keep me from selfishly trying to win the approval of those who follow after me. Instead let Your approval be enough for me. Show me how to give them Your love in order that they will be won to Your kingdom. Thank You, Jesus, that I can leave a legacy leading to You, if only I humble myself at Your feet and not because You want me to grovel, but because You want to give me true abundant life. In Jesus’ Precious Name, Amen!

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… may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. ~ 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13

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But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. ~ John 10:2-4

“Know his voice”… It’s at this point many of us get bogged down, confused , or even fearful ~ feeling and thinking, “But I Don’t know His voice!”
It’s also at this point that we can and should take a deep breath if necessary, relax, and be at peace, resting in and trusting our Good Shepherd! Our ability to follow Him does not rest on us alone because our Good Shepherd will Not fail us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), nor will He suffer us to be lost! (Matthew 18:12, Luke 15:4)

The verse cited at the beginning says He calls us “by name”. Often in the trials and business of life ~ and particularly, even, in the midst of our service ~ it’s easy to lose track of the Reality that we are uniquely and individually loved by God Himself! (Matt. 10:30,
Lk 12:7) He sees us, Knows us, and Loves us deeply!
(1 Corinthians 13: 12)

1 Cor. 13 also tells us that love never fails (v. 8) and 1 John tells us that God is love (4:8), so here again are Truths we can rely on ~ and rest in, and be at peace in!

This isn’t to say there aren’t things we can do to help ourselves be familiar with His voice. We already know what those things are and the enemy of our souls works hard to both keep us from them, and then turns to accuse and berate us for not pursuing those thing “enough”. Let’s just raise a shield of faith stamped with Rom. 8:1 against the accusations of the enemy and turn our face to the Sun of Righteousness instead. (Malachi 4:2) Then let us follow follow our Good Shepherd in peace and trust as He leads us day by day. (Matt. 6:34)